Lighting advice requested

[gregj1763]

Hi all, I have been asked by a Hair Salon where my daughter works, (not this one the other one ) to do a hair and makeup photo shoot to be used on their web site
Lighting is not my strong point so your C&C would be appreciated

The setup I have used is a white backdrop, (we will be doing some shots outside against an old rugged brick wall for some variety) a soft box at about 45 and slightly higher on the left of image then I'm using an on camera flash angled at 90 degrees to bounce light from the right off a reflector back up into my daughters face.
Bear in mind these photo's are to highlight what this salon can produce in Hair styles and makeup.
These are all SOOC
Sony A99, Sigma 70-200mm, 1/125, ISO 200, F/5.6 and a couple of Sony flash units

Cheers in advance, Greg

[IzzieK]

With a light coloured skin and hair person, the rule is that you use a dark background...and with a dark skin person, you use a light background..

[gregj1763]

With a light coloured skin and hair person, the rule is that you use a dark background...and with a dark skin person, you use a light background..

Thanks Izzie, how about a grey one to split the difference as I don't know who the hair models will be

[JR1]

To be brutally honest the poses are terrible, they look as if she is bored and the 2 and 3 show a head and especially neck in a terrible pose

The backdrop needs Ironing and should be a seamless black or very dark colour

The lighting is uneven, and made worse by a backdrop that is wrinkled

Personally I would shoot natural light outdoors

You said "grey to split the difference" with Izzie, fine, why ask advice and not take it, shoot grey, it will look bad

Finally none of the shots you have taken show the hair in reality, I suggest you visit a salon and look at photographs taken for catalogues

[IzzieK]

Thanks Izzie, how about a grey one to split the difference as I don't know who the hair models will be

Maybe you can ask your sister, Greg, so you will prepared.

And start from here, mate...

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/20...sed-portraits/

and here...

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/20...ant-to-forget/

and if Manfred is not on his trip, he will give his suggestion soon...how long before you do your shoot?

[gregj1763]

To be brutally honest the poses are terrible, they look as if she is bored and the 2 and 3 show a head and especially neck in a terrible pose

The backdrop needs Ironing and should be a seamless black or very dark colour

The lighting is uneven, and made worse by a backdrop that is wrinkled

Personally I would shoot natural light outdoors

You said "grey to split the difference" with Izzie, fine, why ask advice and not take it, shoot grey, it will look bad

Finally none of the shots you have taken show the hair in reality, I suggest you visit a salon and look at photographs taken for catalogues

Thanks for the advice Jeremy, all points you made are noted

[gregj1763]

Maybe you can ask your sister, Greg, so you will prepared.

And start from here, mate...

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/20...sed-portraits/

and here...

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/20...ant-to-forget/

and if Manfred is not on his trip, he will give his suggestion soon...how long before you do your shoot?

Got a couple of weeks to get things sorted Izzie, thanks for the links

[Shadowman]

Have they explained how the photos will be displayed? Will the photos be shown as a grouping or proof sheet or individual shots of the model with lots of detail?

[davidedric]

Have you read Colin Southern's "school of potraiture" in the stickies at the top of this forum?

Dave

[Loose Canon]

Hey Greg!

Since this is for hair and makeup, you might want to make a little adjustment in your scheme.

Firstly, if you are shooting for hair/makeup artists, then that is what you have to showcase.

This means tight headshots with all hair/head in the frame. Depending on what your clients “think” they want, you might shoot it on a white BG and you will need to light it separately. Make sure it goes to white and not gray or have seams. Seams, wrinkles, etc. will give you fits. You want the models to shine and the styling (hair/makeup) to steal the show. Plus it will give you a bit of backlighting which is good. Shoot tight and the BG should be minimal anyway. But make sure of the clothing. It may necessarily be partially included in the shots so make it dark, no patterns, nothing that would detract from the model/hair/makeup. It should be minimally included so don’t give it a chance to bum your shoot.

Next? I would lose the traditional lighting for the models and go for clamshell lighting which is in today’s world considered “Glam” lighting. It will reduce the imperfections (if any) in the model’s faces and light the hair/makeup without shadows. The folks who are doing this H/Mu stuff may not want lighting shadows on your part messing with their stuff.

I would also make sure I had enough lighting available for rim and dang sure an overhead for the hair. But careful about any blonde model’s hair being lost in the BG. Have enough power handy to shoot at an aperture to have enough DoF to keep the entire model’s head sharp. Here you don’t want any OOF models or hair falling off the back of the head. The MU artists will want their stuff happening too so no focus falloff.

Make sure you are shooting dead balls-on accurate. Shoot reference shots with a color array and neutral gray for any adjustments that may have to be made in post. You don’t want a MUA coming back to you wondering why their makeup color looks whacked out. In that case if it is, it is on them and you can prove your accuracy.

Crank up your post production techniques and fire all of your guns at once. Forget all the happy SOOC (which by the way, there is no such thing, especially in this genre) stuff. Give them everything you can and zoom way in and be obsessive. I’m not saying overdo it to excess or make it plastic, but this is a great chance to develop your eye for detail. Minute detail!

Then charge the soup out of them and wait for them to beat down your door wanting more!

[gregj1763]

John, individual shots put up on their web site.
Dave, I have and will be going through it again over the next couple of weeks before D day.
Terry thanks for all the ideas and helpful advice.

[rpcrowe]

Here are about a gazillion images of various hairstyles which might give you an idea as to types of photos used to illustrate hairstyles...
https://www.google.com/search?q=hair...2&ved=0CB0QsAQ

[pnodrog]

You need to make sure the eyes are not in shadow. Apart from the second and last shots there is no sparkle at all in the eyes.

[gregj1763]

Here are about a gazillion images of various hairstyles which might give you an idea as to types of photos used to illustrate hairstyles...
https://www.google.com/search?q=hair...2&ved=0CB0QsAQ

Thanks Richard, Just got home and was about to google search, you just saved me the time Cheers